type system research + analysis
Taught over several years with various end products, this project asks students to research a typographic/information system of a chosen publication. Based on the typographic pedagogy of Denise Gonzoles Crisp from North Carolina State University, students analyze and explore aspects such as grid structure, font systems, and comparative aspects between print and web versions of a given publication.
Throughout the years I taught this project, the final form of submission changed. Most recently, I provided students with the open prompt to “design a communication tool.” Results included interactive websites, digital apps, posters, booklets, and zines. Each year the project requirements were the same. The students’ investigations were to develop a typographic taxonomy, analyze the publication’s grid, compare the web and print versions of the publication, and understand how style unified the two formats.
Taxonomy
When working on the taxonomy portion of the project, I ask students to identify typographic roles and hierarchical relationships found in the print version of the publication. They are instructed to include every element from the tiniest folio to the grandest headline, plus image usage, symbols, and graphic elements. For some students, this is their first encounter with a taxonomy. Lessons include learning about taxonomies as a system of “categorization” of elements. They can then apply that knowledge to the working prototypes of their publication analysis.
Grid analysis
When addressing the grid structure of the analysis process, students reference readings from Samara’s Making and Breaking the Grid. Their analyses are expected to include heavily annotated diagrams of the digital and print grid structures, including detailed measurements.
Compare and Contrast
I ask students to compare and contrast print and screen versions, including hierarchies, typographic choices, color, photography, and illustrations, to describe similarities and differences between the two. Students present this information in various ways, including comparative maps, or diagrams, or writing.
Unity Through Style
Students then select attributes from the compare and contrast portion and visually describe similarities that unite (or not) the print and digital versions, and the differences that reflect the limits or affordances of each media. I ask students to use these observations to assess the attitude or style of the publication.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach this project with Denise Gonzoles Crisp two times. During these occasions, the students created printed mini 8x10 publications. I’ve taught this lesson solo three times. The first year, students created a series of three or more broadsheets. In the second year, students produced two-sided broadsheets that folded into zines. This past year I taught this lesson remotely during Covid. Students did not have access to printers, and we would not be able to hang or pass around printed projects. This is the year, as mentioned above, I left the prompt open and asked students to create a communication tool of their choosing. Many students chose to create interactive artifacts. On all five experiences teaching this project, it’s been tweaked. Students report seeing publications with a new, more critical eye.
Student Works:
One (homepage): Wired Magazine Broadsheet, 2018: Katie Frohbose & Randa Hadi
Two: The New York Times Magazine Broadsheet/Zine, 2019: Andrew Thornton & Harrison Kratzer
Three: The New York Times Magazine Video, 2020: Brogan Williams + Lindsay Caslin
Four: The Fader Booklet, 2020: Ann Salman + Angela Zhong
Five: The Atlantic, 2019: Shirley Chen & Shemayah Hart
Six: Fast Company Broadsheet, 2018: Anna Schecterson & Sam Chang